A Make-A-Wish Central New York Blog Celebrating Wishes

My Hawaii Wish, My Happy Place

In November, I was told that Make-A-Wish® Central New York had granted my wish to go to Maui, Hawaii on my birthday. I was beyond excited. As far as vacations go, my family and I had never really been anywhere tropical, so I knew this would be a good experience.

We arrived in Maui on November 11, the day before my birthday. As soon as we got off the plane, I knew it would be great. We were immediately greeted by a Make-A-Wish® Hawaii volunteer, who kindly gave us beautiful flowery leis and tips about things to do on the island and how to get around. The hotel we stayed at was beautiful. Every morning there was a penguin feeding in the main lobby, which was wicked cool. The pool area was huge and there was a path behind it that led to different places around the island.

The ocean was absolutely amazing and we went snorkeling one of the days. On that day we went out on a boat with a few other families, ate some hot dogs and hamburgers, put on our flippers and snorkels and went out into the ocean. It was so cool and I’m so happy that this was one of the activities I was able to do. We also took a bus tour up to some of the highest points in Hawaii. We got up to an elevation of 2,000 feet! We also got to see some other areas of Hawaii, which was cool. These areas were mostly farm land with smaller houses. I remembered thinking that anywhere you live in Hawaii, it must be great. We also got to stop at a beach where there were about ten huge sea turtles just lying on the sand! We couldn’t get too close to them, but just seeing them was an experience of its own.

One of my favorite things that we did there was go jet skiing. I normally ride four-wheelers and snowmobiles, so riding a jet ski was easy. I liked it so much that my stepdad and I decided to go jet skiing a second time! All of the restaurants that we ate at were in the next town over and those were super good with lots of seafood and healthy choices.

Honestly, this was a life-changing experience for me. I truly think being in Hawaii was the happiest I’ve ever been and you can’t help but feel relaxed and happy in the environment. I’m now even considering studying nursing at college in Hawaii. I figure if Hawaii is where I’m most happy, why not spend my whole life there? I can’t thank Make-A-Wish enough for giving me the opportunity to find my happiness.

If anyone asked me what they should wish for, I’d say think of somewhere you’d be happiest and go there. Because what more can you wish for other than to be happy?